|
An initial exploration of the factors influencing aggressive and assertive intentions
of women ice hockey players
KIM M. SHAPCOTT*, GORDON A. BLOOM**, and TODD M. LOUGHEAD***
* University of Western Ontario, Canada
** McGill University
*** University of Windsor, Canada
The purpose of the present study was to investigate women ice hockey players’
aggressive and/or assertive behavioral intentions and factors that may have influenced
these intentions using the Theory of Planned Behavior as a guide. This study
used stimulated recall interviews as the main method of data acquisition. A systematic
observation analysis was also employed to aid the stimulated recall interviews.
Participants were university female ice hockey players. The results revealed several
reasons for aggressive and assertive behaviors, including the score, the players’ attitude,
and the influence of coaches, parents, teammates, and referees. As well, aspects
of frustration, retaliation, and intimidation were discussed by the participants. These
findings augment the literature on physicality in women’s ice hockey and demonstrate
the usefulness of the Theory of Planned Behavior for understanding and
explaining the factors influencing aggressive and assertive behaviors.
The moderating effect of outcome interdependence on the
relationship between task conflict and group performance
GEORGE B. CUNNINGHAM* and D. SCOTT WALTEMYER**
*Texas A&M University, College Station, USA
**Texas A&M University, Commerce, USA
The purpose of this study was to examine the extent to which outcome interdependence
moderated the relationship between task conflict and group performance.
Questionnaire data were collected from coaches (N = 175) of university athletic
teams (N = 45). Analyses were conducted at the coaching staff level.
Hierarchical regression, controlling for the effects of the sex of the team coached
and the number of persons on the coaching staff, revealed that task conflict was negatively
related to group performance. Moderated regression revealed that the aforementioned
relationship was dependent upon the level of outcome interdependence.
Specifically, when outcome interdependence was low, the relationship between task
conflict and the team’s performance was negative; however, task conflict was positively
related to the team’s performance when outcome interdependence was high.
Results are discussed in terms of theoretical and practical implications.
A historical examination of relative age effects
in Canadian hockey players
NICK WATTIE*, JOSEPH BAKER* **, STEPHEN COBLEY**, WILLIAM J. MONTELPARE***
*Lifespan Health and Performance Laboratory, School of Kinesiology & Health Science,
York University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
** Carnegie Research Institute, Leeds Metropolitan University, Leeds, United Kingdom
*** School of Kinesiology, Lakehead University, Thunder Bay, Canada
The relative age effect (RAE) shows that the older one is relative to one’s peers
in the same grouping or junior sport team the greater the probability of eventually
becoming an elite athlete. The present study tracked the existence of the RAE among
elite male and female Canadian ice hockey players and investigated the relationship
between relative age and performance at the elite level. Year and month of birth as
well as several performance measures (career games played, goals, total points, assists)
were collected using the Hockey Hall of Fame Registry for males (N = 4195) and data
from the Canadian Women’s National Championship in 2004 (N = 150) and in 2006
(N = 172) for females. Players’ birth-dates were organized by month into quartiles
(Jan-Mar, Apr-June, July-Sep, Oct-Dec). Analyses revealed significant differences
among quartiles in NHL players born after 1956 (X2 ranging from 8.31 to 28.02, all
p < .05), suggesting that the relative age effect first manifested in the NHL within the
late 1970s (average age of player entry into the NHL 21.8 years). No RAE was
observed among birth quartiles in elite women players (p = .355). Further, there were
no relative age discrepancies in career performance measures in the male players.
These data reinforce the notion that the RAE is a complex phenomenon likely with a
multitude of social and cultural antecedents.
Competition stress and affective experiences
of Canadian and Japanese futsal players
GUIDO GEISLER* and JOHN H. KERR**
* Institute of Health and Sport Sciences, University of Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan
** Department of Sport and Physical Education, Kokushikan University, Tokyo, Japan
Competition stress and emotions were examined for 65 futsal (small-sided soccer)
players in Canada and Japan. The Tension and Effort Stress Inventory (TESI;
Svebak et al., 1991) was administered to four teams, pregame and postgame for three
games each, at futsal tournaments in both countries. Repeated measures MANOVA
revealed a significant three-way interaction for effort stress and for nine TESI emotions,
plus several significant two-way interactions. Japanese players felt more tension
stress in connection with losing than Canadian players, while Canadian participants
exhibited stronger effort stress before wins. In the examination of emotions,
Canadians experienced more pleasant emotions after wins than after losses, and
more unpleasant emotions after losses than after wins. However, Japanese players
reported more unpleasant emotions after wins and more pleasant emotions after
losses. They also experienced more unpleasant pregame emotions than the Canadians.
Competition level and cultural attitudes toward individualism/collectivism are
offered to explain these results.
Soccer players’ perceptions of their coping strategies:
A screening evaluation before and after
a sport Psychology Service Delivery
STÅL BJØRKLY
Institute of Health and Social Sciences,Molde University College,Norway
The purpose of this explorative small-scale evaluation was to examine the
effects of a ten-month team-based sport psychology service delivery aimed to
enhance the coping skills of 21 professional soccer players. Principles from cognitive
behaviour therapy were instrumental in each weekly match preparation. A 16-item
screening questionnaire on the individual player’s perception of his coping capacity
and strategies was dispensed to each player prior to and after the intervention
period. It covered various aspects of coping skills before and during matches and
addressed if and how each player would seek to help a team-mate with match performance
problems. The comparison of pre and post service delivery scores showed
a significant increase in the amount of sport psychology literature read, the use of
specific coping skills during matches, and the offering of more specialized help to
team-mates after the intervention.
Explicit rules and direction of attention in learning
and performing the table tennis forehand
JOHAN M. KOEDIJKER*, RAÔUL R. D. OUDEJANS and PETER J. BEEK
Institute for Fundamental and Clinical Human Movement Sciences
Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
An experiment was conducted to examine the respective roles of explicit rules
about movement execution and direction of attention in learning and performing a
novel perceptual-motor task. To this end, four groups of learners (34 participants in
total) acquired the table tennis forehand (450 repetitions) under different instructions
(explicit, implicit, movement focus, and environment focus learning) and were subsequently
tested under increased performance pressure and secondary task loading. In
the absence of any differences in acquisition between the groups, the results revealed
that the accumulation of a large number of explicit rules about task execution (i.e.,
explicit learning) was detrimental to performance under pressure and secondary task
loading. It was therefore concluded that the number of explicit rules accumulated,
rather than direction of attention during learning, determines the robustness of the
acquired skill to performance pressure.
|